The plot focuses on aging couple Ethel and Norman Thayer, who spend each summer at their home on a lake called Golden Pond. During the year the story takes place, they are visited by daughter Chelsea with her fiancé Bill and his son Billy in tow. The film explores the often turbulent relationship the young woman shared with her father while growing up, the difficulties faced by a couple in the twilight years of a long marriage, and the special bond forged by Norman and Billy while his father and Chelsea spend time in Europe.